"Frank Messina is one of the most widely recognized
young poets living in America today." (Playboy Magazine). Author of four books of
poetry including the critically acclaimed Full Count: The Book of Mets Poetry and Disorderly Conduct, Messina's work tackles subjects relating to
human nature including themes of love, struggle, war, civic responsibility and sports
fanaticism. An avid baseball enthusiast, his baseball poems and musings have seeped into
the realm of pop-culture, being the subject of debate and commentary on such programs as
The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live and SNY-TV's Mets Weekly, where
Messina's Mets-related verse is set to the visual backdrop of glorious (and not so
glorious) moments in Mets history. As a result, sports fans around the world refer to
Messina as "The Mets
Poet".

Messina's poetry has been featured on the front page of
the New York Times, FOX News, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, The CBS Early Show, SportsNet
New York, Sports Illustrated and published in several poetry journals, college textbooks
and magazines around the world.

His work appears in The Beloit Poetry Journal, The
New York Times,Ground Zero: New Yorkers Respond, the 9/11 Peace Poetry
Project, Long Shot Magazine, New York Press, Oxford Magazine, Published in Heaven Poster
Series, Oxalis, Footwork: The Paterson Literary Review, Frank of Paris,Newark
Writer's Journal, Idiom, and Promethean Press. He has been featured
on National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Network. His 9/11-related poems,
including Bicycle, have gained
international attention and are included in the curriculum at several educational
institutions including the University of London. In August, 2013, Messina's original
hand-written journal containing the original drafts of Bicycle and other
9/11-related poems, was accessioned into the National September 11 Memorial & Museum's
permanent collection.

Messina earned a B.A. in English from St. Thomas Aquinas
College in 1990 and received The Woolrich Poetry Fellowship of Columbia University in 1993
where he studied under David Ignatow and
later with Alan Dugan at the
Poetry Writing Workshop at Indiana University. Messina was nominated for the Allen
Ginsberg Poetry Award in 1995. He was commissioned for Kentucky Colonel in October, 2010
by Governor Steve Beshear and Secretary of State Trey Grayson. He joins the ranks of Elvis
Presley, Lyndon B. Johnson and Johnny Depp as fellow Colonels. Messina serves as Artistic
Advisor to the Jack Kerouac Writers-in-Residence Project of Orlando Florida and resides in
Jersey City, NJ.

Messina first gained notoriety as the founder of
the underground band, Spoken Motion, whose signature ability to fuse bold,
lyrical content with eclectic jazz and experimental rock music helped catapult the
fledgling 'Spoken Word' genre of the 1990's to commercial success. The group featured
percussionist Larry McDonald, Elliott Levin of Cecil Taylor's Phthongas on sax
and flute, Bob Susko on guitar, Wes Jensen on drums and bassist Joe Isgro.

Frank Messina & Spoken Motion's album, Biting the
Tongue, includes special guest appearances by the legendary composer David Amram,
jazz violinist Billy Bang of the Sun Ra Arkestra and Scott Murawski and Mark Mercier of
Max Creek. The album made the Top 20 Spoken Word Chart immediately after its July, '98
release date and remained for 16 weeks. In addition, track 1 from the album, I Want to
Hear Poetry, is included on the 1998 College Radio's Best of The Indies
compilation CD. The same track hit #1 on the mp3.com Spoken Word Charts in April, 1999.

He also founded the all-star "Spoke n' Roll"
band, OCTOPOET, in 1999. The experimental group has featured members of the Spin Doctors,
Max Creek, Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron Band and Spoken Motion plus Mark Egan, saxophonist Erik
Lawrence and vocalists Lucy Woodward, Dawn Lorentz and Chanda Rule. Spanning his career,
Messina has recorded over 200 spoken word & music compositions including works from Biting
the Tongue (1998), Absorb (1999), Rage (1999), The Long
Road to Nowheresville (2004) and Walking Home (2007).

Messina has performed worldwide at notable venues such as Newark Symphony Hall, Madison Square Garden, The London
International Poetry and Song Festival, The Louisville Center for the Arts, Hofstra
University's Spiegel Theatre, Crossing Border Festival in the Netherlands, Bowery Poetry
Club, Meer Dan Woorden Festival, Lollapalooza Festival, Woodstock `94, Lowell Celebrates
Kerouac Festival, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Great American Music Hall in San
Francisco, The Knitting Factory, Nuyorican Poets' Cafe', Howlin' Wolf Club in New Orleans
and several in-store performances at Tower Records, Barnes and Noble, and Borders Books
and Music. Messina has also performed in Dublin, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Berlin,
Germany; Reykjavik, Iceland; Newcastle on Tyne, UK; Edinburgh, Scotland; Prague,
Czechoslovakia among other cities.

Messina
is also a prolific painter, known to include shredded poems, pharmaceuticals and poppy
seeds in his large, dramatic canvas works. As a burgeoning artist with an illustrious
past, his paintings
hang in the private collections of jazz musicians, writers, governors and fashion models
around the world.

Frank Messina: The Official Website

Frank Messina is a BMI-affiliated recording
artist
and a member of the Screen Actors Guild, The American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists, Actors' Equity Association and the National Writers Union.
Bookings / Press Contact: gatekeeper@spokeface.com
Representation, Licensing, Publishing, Contracts, Casting:
Danziger, Danziger & Muro, LLP
405 Park Avenue, Suite 502, New York, NY 10022

All material copyright Spokeface Records. By visiting
this site, you agree to the terms and conditions. All text, video, audio and images may
not be re-published, distributed or disseminated without the expressed, written permission
of Spokeface Records. Site Designed and Hosted By TechEvolution